2A Football: Aberdeen Grinds Out 12-7 Win Over Rochester

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Aberdeen scored with 27 seconds left, giving itself just enough offense for a 12-7 win over Rochester in Evergreen 2A Conference football action in Grays Harbor.

Neither team, though, looked particularly sharp in Saturday’s game; the game was a scoreless stalemate heading into the fourth quarter.

“Everybody would look at it and think, ‘What a great game,’” Warrior coach A.J. Easley said. “There was a lot of turnovers on both sides. We had five, and they had to have at least four or five.”

Aberdeen finally got on the board early in the fourth quarter on a 20-yard run, but a failed conversion run kept the lead at 6-0.

Rochester quarterback Landon Hawes connected with Talon Betts for a 95-yard touchdown with three minutes left to play, and Chris Rodriguez’ kick put the Warriors ahead.

Aberdeen, though, drove back down the field and converted on a 2-yard run in the final minute to grind out the win.

Hawes finished 9 of 17 passing for 183 yards with two interceptions. Betts ran the ball 13 times for 22 yards and caught seven passes for 135 yards.



Erik Vasquez added two catches for 48 yards. 

“We just shot ourselves in the foot. We just had far too many penalties,” Easley said, adding that a few bouts of chippiness infected the game. “We didn’t do a good enough job of being mentally tough enough to stay out of that stuff.”

Linebackers Eddie Burkhardt, James Jimenez and Eddie Smith were highlights for the Warriors’ defensive efforts.

“They all played outstanding,” Easley said. “They all had probably double-digit tackles, and half of those were in the backfield.”

Rochester (1-3) plays at Black Hills on Saturday.